The present invention relates to a bundling apparatus for collectively bundling objects to be bundled stacked in a pile, and more specifically, to a bundling apparatus in which a band material is wound around objects to be bundled and both ends of the band material are bonded together to securely bundle the objects.
Prior art bundling apparatuses of this type have a band material passed along a guide member to form a loop, through which objects to be bundled, such as a stack of sheets, are inserted. After the guide member is drawn out of the looped band material, the band material is tightened and both its end portions are joined and thermally welded together to bundle the stack of sheets.
In these conventional bundling apparatuses, however, the width or diameter of the guide member must be greater than the width of the stack of sheets to be bundled. As a result, the size of the apparatus is increased. If the guide member is circular in shape, the width of the sheets inserted therein must be less than the diameter of the guide member. Thus, the apparatus cannot be well adapted to sheets of different widths. If the guide member is formed of guide bars facing each other, it requires a guide bar transfer mechanism for improved adaptability to the sheet width, thus complicating the construction of the apparatus.